The Maximum City

Mumbai: The city that never sleeps. While I am writing this, parts of the city are still visible when I look down the aircraft. It is a place totally different from any other city in India. Be it the metros, or the other tier I cities, there is no match.

The city is like this because of the people. There is a decently high level of discipline in every individual. It is evident all the time, the traffic move in a much disciplined way than Delhi or Bangalore, while waiting for a shared cab, People get into queues on their own. Same goes at the bus stops and the ticket windows at the stations. Had it been Delhi it would have been a mad rush. The auto rickshaw-walas always returned a rupee back every time I had the minimum fare. Again a contrast, you get cheated very often in other parts of the country.

Travelling in Mumbai, many call it a pain, yet the entire city moves in the suburban trains or locals. Be it the top level executives or the lower middle class or the fisherman and the dabbawalas, the only difference is the first class and the ordinary. When most of the india hasn’t yet had the morning tea, Mumbai is on the move from Virar to Churchgate. When the entire country is sleeping, there are people strolling on the marine drive.

I bet, if anyone takes a cam on the marine drive, walks long enough, the video will represent a perfect snapshot of entire demographics of the country, all religions and social classes, rich and poor, young and old at one single place.

South Bombay, where I fortunately got to spend the two months, has a different charm of its own. The Victorian architecture in itself is worth looking at and admiring in the poetic language. Strolling down the lines, with building having huge arches in the Fort area in the backdrop, tall old buildings which have a different glam factor, the street market at Causeway, the Taj, the Gateway of India, the Fountain, the Oberoi, the marine drive, the black Premier Padmini Taxis with yellow top, the BEST busses, the Victoria Terminus the road side market all make South Bombay so special.

The city could be “Maximum” in dimensions, population but, above all, there are “Minimum” resources. Nobody has time, everyone is running. In the first few days, I never rushed to catch a local, never bothered whether it is a slow or a fast local, for it didn’t make more than 5-7 minutes difference. Within a week or ten days, I was actually running on the road to catch a bus, got a train pass made to save “time” in queues and was desperately looking for the fast trains only.

100 rupees in Mumbai seem to be worth nothing. And money is something that probably people care for a lot in Mumbai. People, don’t mind sweating and the AC buses run empty. Most of the executives in major companies, most of them highly paid, travel by local trains, which is undoubtedly the fastest way to travel in Mumbai. Again in contrast with Delhi where everyone travels by a personal car.

It is definitely a place where you learn to adjust, you learn to sacrifice your comfort for the sake of time, you skip the snacks and grab a Vada Pav while on the move, it’s a place where you should have an empty stomach and full pocket, it teaches you how to literally “run” your life, it’s a place that teaches you how to survive.

Even with all the hardships and so less comfort, it is said that anyone who comes to Mumbai doesn’t want to leave and it is possibly the reason why the city is growing beyond limits. It accepts everyone who comes in and has opportunities for all too. May be that’s why it is the Maximum City.

Quarterly Round Up!!

I haven’t been close to my own blog for long. The last time I accesses it was when IPL related Google search redirected me to one of my old posts. Couldn’t find time is a lame excuse, I didn’t make an effort. While I am keying my thoughts about how the year has been so far, today’s date is somewhat special. It is the last date of third term of MBA, it is the financial year ending and I am writing a quarterly report for the first quarter of 2009.

Last year ended with a blast, a Chilka and Puri trip after endterms, celebrating Christmas at the institute, and the 31st December JLT. 2009 so far has been eventful and with all forecasting and projection techniques that I have learnt, the present value of all the future “Happening Events” is pretty high. The FM effect isn’t getting out of my mind, although I couldn’t do much in the 3 and half hours paper, but at least have learnt jargons and how to use them appropriately.

January 30th was when DA-IICT, my alma mater, conferred the B.Tech Degree. I was always sceptical about my being able to attend the Convocation given the harsh attendance rules in XIMB, but somehow it happened. Went to Kolkata and took a flight to Ahmedabad. It was a moment in itself being at the gates of the place where I have spent some four good years of my life. Nostalgia....

Engineering college is more about getting to know yourself, realising your strengths, making good friends and I guess I did all that very well. I would consider myself fortunate for having a bunch of real good friends who still remain one of the closest. I think an MBA institute provides an environment where there is a much greater level of interaction but the level of bonding is not that much.

Back in DA-IICT, it was a moment that everyone present there would always cherish for the life... Meeting all the friends that you had always liked to spend time and hangout with, being at the same room where you have stayed for 3 years, being recognised by the food court staff, walking down the tracks where you had rushed to the classes, being an alumnus, every moment is altogether a different feeling. I believe that it wasn’t just for me, but everyone had come to be there and getting the degree was just a part of it. When not in college, the place is a heaven for foodies. Having dinner on the open air roof top restaurant, trying out exquisite chocolate cuisine at The Chocolate Room in a wonderful ambience, sharing a drink at night and loads of bakar... This was what convocation was indirectly meant for.


Adieus to Ahmedabad, took a flight back to Kolkata and had to catch a train to Bhubaneswar from Howrah at night. Being at Kolkata was a surprise package, had around 6 hours time to spend there and I called up a good friend of mine and it turned out to be an amazing jaunt. I had only seen Kolkata in movies, documentaries and books. I had an image of it being a rugged city, full of poverty, not so properly managed city. Some things turned out to be true. It is probably the only city in India where you can still use 25p coins and there is an economy running out of these. It was hard to see hand pulled carts...signs of extreme poverty. The city buses seemed to be of pre-independence era, wooden bodied rickety buses probably fully loaded with human freight. Trams, I had imagined as an old yet classic way of travel, baah...Nope... Missed the shot by miles.

All is not that bad... Being a diehard fan of Sourav Ganguly, I got to dine at Sourav’s...Not value for money, but a valuable moment. This was the best part of the short halt at Kolkata...Kept strolling on the roads, till it was time to pack up... Back to Howrah station, two of us kept on chatting as long as possible, unearthing all the possible facts and events we had been party to...Yo!!

Next morning, Monday, back to academic schedule, half of our batch came back from the OBL (Out Bound Learning from Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, Jamshedpur). The second batch including me was to leave for a 4 day programme the coming weekend. OBL is theoretically a team building and training package, but to me it was more of an adventure trip. The kind of lives we live, I think breaks like these should be frequent. Away from the wireless world, no laptop or internet or even a mobile connection, living in tents for 2 days and a makeshift shelter of plastic and wooden sticks is a different experience in itself. Early morning jog, followed by warm up exercise, fixed eating timings and the most simple, yet healthy, food being served, and I bet nobody complained. For the people who have lived a lavished and pampered life also, it was a learning experience in appositive sense. Washing your utensils, shitting in the makeshift arrangement, crawling on the ground to cross the hurdles, getting tanned in sun, trying to test the limits of your stamina, crawling in the caves, dust all over, at times felt like miners, making your own food in open on firewood using water directly from a not-so-clean lake; these are some things that take you to the grass root level. Who would imagine, supposed managers to find comfortable sleep on the rocks (literally) even without a floor mat, but it is very true.
Four days, disconnected with the world, in peace and a totally new experience filled with fun and energy.

After the OBL, it was back to normal academic schedule, midterms followed by regular, somewhat hectic schedule because of rescheduling of many classes.
MAXINATIONS was the next big thing and probably the best I have experienced in XIMB. It is an inter-hostel block series of competitions, from rock, dance and music, to acting, quizzing, and most importantly strategizing. I feel proud for being one of the significant contributors from our block and we led ourselves to be the Champions. Non XIMBians might not get the heck out of what is so-damn-important in a series of competitions, but trust me, not even an iota of exaggeration; it is a real BIG event... And winning it makes it all the more important...


The time ticks away, can’t really feel the depth of time, 3 terms of MBA are over... Looking ahead is the Summer Internship at Axis Bank, Mumbai. Challenges are welcome!!!